Ali Abunimah

Al-Shabaka Policy Advisor Ali Abunimah is the author of One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli Palestinian Impasse (2006), and co-founder and director of the widely acclaimed publication The Electronic Intifada. Based in the United States, he has written hundreds of articles and been an active part of the movement for justice in Palestine for 20 years. He is the recipient of a 2013 Lannan Cultural Freedom Fellowship. His most recent book is The Battle for Justice in Palestine.

Though Al-Jazeera never aired “The Lobby – USA,” its undercover investigation into how Israel’s government works with US organizations to advance its agenda, last month the Electronic Intifada leaked the four-part documentary. Al-Shabaka sat down with EI co-founder and Al-Shabaka analyst Ali Abunimah to discuss the film’s implications and its lessons for the Palestine solidarity movement.

In this compilation Al-Shabaka’s top analysts dissect the Accords’ political and economic dimensions and discuss their repercussions for Palestinians while also providing recommendations on ways forward.

How will US-Palestinian relations – such as they are – be affected by the nuclear agreement between leading world powers and Iran In brief:

Mouin Rabbani: Washington is likely to compensate Israel for the Iran agreement in Palestinian coin. Diana Buttu: There is a belief among many Palestinian political leaders, largely unfounded, that this agreement will lead to a resumption of some political process. Ali Abunimah: The impact it has already had is that President Obama has deepened US involvement in and support for Israeli crimes as a form of compensation to Israel and its lobby.

Which comes first: shifting the balance of power or reclaiming the Palestinian narrative? Does the Palestinian Authority education system undermine the Palestinian story? Is there a place for the Israeli in the Palestinian narrative? How badly has the hegemonic narrative on Israel in the U.S. been shaken? These questions and more are thrashed out in this provocative Al-Shabaka roundtable.

In this Al-Shabaka roundtable, a cross-section of policy advisors reflects on Jamil Hilal’s policy brief, “Palestinian Answers in the Arab Spring.” They discuss the state of Palestinian politics and society, the future of the Palestinian national movement, and how to achieve a Palestinian Spring.

Will a Palestinian state, no matter how sovereign, fulfill the Palestinian right to self-determination? Al-Shabaka Policy Advisor Ali Abunimah argues that in order to achieve true sovereignty, self-determination must return to the center of the Palestinian struggle.